Misunderstood...

The poor will always be with you... Matthew 26:11

All scripture is true and God breathed. However some scripture is misunderstood or misinterpreted. The poor are among us and true they will always be with us. However this scripture could be easily misunderstood. One thing it does not mean is that the poor will always be with us so we don't have to be responsible for playing a part in their lives. Another thing it does not mean is that the poor will always be with us so we will never be able to reach them all and therefore we become apathetic to those in need. It does not mean that the poor are to be considered less than we who are not poor.

In fact it is the quite the contrary. The poor will always be with us BUT we still do have responsibility! We should not have the mentality that we can't save the world rather the attitude of obedience to what ever it is the Lord calls us to. We should guard ourselves from apathy and become sympathetic and have compassion.

When Jesus said the words " The poor will always be with us", it was not to exclude their needs. It was not intended for us to make excuses as to why we are not actively helping the poor. It was to make the point that the lady with the alabaster jar filled with perfume who decided to use it to wipe Jesus feet was not wasting her resources. The Pharisees were condemning her for wasting something that could have been used to sell in order to make money to give to the poor. They were making fun of her in a sense and were saying in fact,"You are wasting your time and money. Don't you know that Jesus would appreciate it more if you sold that perfume and not anoint his feet with it?" It was then that Jesus, said that the poor would always be with us....to make the point that she was doing exactly what she should be doing. Sacrificing something of importance for the Glory of the Christ.

Jesus was always found outside the gate. Outside the gate is where Jesus is today and where we will find Him. Outside the gate is where the diseased, poor, widowed, orphaned, lost and oppressed are. It is where we will find the ones who need Jesus and the life saving salvation He gives and we all need to receive.

All through scripture Old and New Testament God refers to the poor. Poor in spirit and poor financially. This is an important matter to God. All through scripture God tells those of us who are rich to not turn our back on the poor, but rather to give. To what extent do we give is the next question? Well, the Lord is teaching me that we need to give in accordance to Gods word. God has showed our family that obedience is better than sacrifice. That when we really ask God what should we give, He is faithful to show us. We are not always ready to obey. Jesus has shown us that He has not called us to an impossible task, that we have been equipped to live this out.

I wanted to share a few pictures of our trip to Mexico with a ministry called Casa de Amor. This ministry builds houses for those who don't have suitable living quarters. They have a process of inviting a family to Church and then family has the opportunity to apply for a house. Not all applicants receive homes, but with the help of local churches houses are being built, lives are being changed. The house is not the most important thing about the ministry....the Gospel is! With the building of these homes, Christ is exampled and the Gospel is shared, the Kingdom of God is built.

The poor will always be among us...but that doesn't mean we should just accept that and move on. It is a challenge to move into a stance of obedience according to scripture. Jesus exampled a perfect life worth imitating to us. He became poor...he suffered along side with...He gave everything for us. The bible says if we love Jesus we will obey His commandments. If we are His disciples we will obey His commandments. We will love our neighbor as ourselves. If we love Jesus we will be like Him. Yes the poor will always be among us, this is a great opportunity to love our neighbors, to suffer along side of, to give all that the Lord has given to us.
Christina and I crammed into the back of the truck.
Our sleeping quarters...sand as far as the eye could see.Brett and Christina getting ready for the big day.

Reading the Bible with a local neighbor.

Their outdoor kitchen.

My new friend and I...She was so sweet. We just clicked. We also had the same favorite Bible verse...Psalm 83.

The Family we were building for, a single mom of two small children.

Putting the roof on.

Bryan and Brett...holding up the walls of the house.

Jesus is always the center of what we do...

Inside the small little home. No finished walls, no running water or bathroom. No kitchen. Only a 11 x 22 house with two small windows. Their is no heat, or electricity, no carpet on the floor, just cement with four walls.

Bryan trying to stucco the outside walls. It is a lot harder than it looks. Thank God that we had a professional with us to finish the job.

Beautiful girls that we were able to share the Love of Christ with, along with some goodies such as hand me down clothes and treats.

Casa de Amor uses NO power tools or electricity. They want to make sure that one gets hurt for one, but that it is easy to duplicate. The locals learn to help themselves and don't need to go buy fancy tools to do it with. Good sweat and hard work built this house.

We prayed over every part of this project from the laying of the foundation to the key ceremony.

Me and Guadalupe...She was so grateful for her new home. Although in America, it is something that we keep our tools in at best, to her it was a start at a new life...and a mansion.

We were guest of Calvary Chapel Tucson, and were given the great honor of committing the house to God and presenting the keys to the family. We also were able to take an offering of cash to get her started with a few things she needed.

Pastor Brett blessed the home and prayed with Guadalupe and her family. We had an translator to help her and us understand. She kept saying that Jesus truly blessed her and that she knows that this is true love. That we were good servants of the Lord.

With the left over material we built a little porch. We had the kids and Guadalupe put their hands in the wet cement and we wrote their names in it.

There were several houses being built this weekend for other families, but this was our crew!! Everyone including the kids helped. No one really took a break. Lives were changed for the Glory of God. We were Jesus with skin on!